GREECE LIGHTENING: Greece still hasn’t finalized a deal to cut what it owes bondholders, get a bailout and avoid defaulting on its debt next month. But investors seemed glad that an agreement appeared near.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Dow Jones industrial average rose six points to 12,884. The S&P 500 rose three to 1,350. The Nasdaq composite rose 12 to 2,916.

TAKING A GAMBLE: Casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. went public on Wednesday, and investors came to the table in packs. Shares shot up 71 percent to $15.39 after Caesars priced them at $9 Tuesday evening.

GREECED: The Dow dropped 17 points and other stock indexes dropped slightly as talks dragged on between Greek political leaders over a fresh cost-cutting measures required for Greece to get more bailout loans.

NEW WARNINGS: The heads of France and Germany warned Greek leaders that they need to push through spending cuts and other measures or risk letting the country go bankrupt. If European leaders don’t sign off the bailout for Greece, the country will likely default when a bond repayment comes due March 20.

WORST OF THE DOW: Travelers Cos. Inc. led the Dow lower with a 1.3 percent loss.

WE CAME HERE FOR THIS? Stocks traded in a narrow range all day and finished mixed and nearly unchanged. Only the Nasdaq moved more than a tenth of a percent.

SO FAR: Stocks are off to a strong start this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 5.4 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 4 percent.

WHAT’S NEXT: Friday job numbers. The government is due to release the number of jobs created last month and the unemployment rate. In December, the country added 200,000 jobs, and the rate was 8.5 percent.

TODAY THE GREECE GLASS IS: Half full. Greece and the International Monetary Fund said they expect to wrap up debt talks soon, which would clear the way for a bailout.

IN OTHER NEWS: Strong manufacturing data and construction spending helped stocks.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Dow Jones industrial average rose almost 84 points to close at 12,716. It’s up 4.1 percent for the year.

BEST JANUARY: The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 each finished with their biggest January gains since 1997, despite falling slightly ton the last day of the month.

EUROPE PERSISTS: Greece appears close to a resolution on its bonds, with investors expected to take a 50 percent loss on face value. The worry now is that Portugal may need a similar deal with its creditors.

CONFIDENCE LOST: The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell to 61.1 in January, down from 64.8 in December. That’s not a good sign because consumers make up 70 percent of the economy and the recovery is leaning heavily on consumers to start spending and generating demand, which will lead to companies expanding and hiring.

NO DEAL: The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday. Yields for ultra-safe U.S. government debt hit their lowest this year, and the euro and European stocks fell.

GREECE TALKS: Greece and its creditors were said to be close to an agreement over the weekend. It’s aimed at cutting Greece’s debt by roughly euro100 billion ($132 billion).

TO PORTUGAL: Borrowing costs for European countries with the heaviest debt burdens shot higher. The two-year interest rate for Portugal’s government debt jumped to 21 percent after trading around 14 percent last week.

STOCK SLUMP: Stocks mostly fell after the government said the U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the last three months of 2011. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 each fell less than 1 percent. The biggest losers were utility stocks, down 1.3 percent.

BAD WEEK: The fall in the Dow capped a down week for the blue-chip index, the first weekly loss in 2012.

THE GOOD NEWS: Nearly two stocks rose for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, suggesting investors may still be bullish. And despite the drop for the day, the Dow is still up nearly 4 percent this year. The Russell 2000 index of riskier small stocks is up nearly 8 percent.

NEW HIGH: The Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level since May after the Federal Reserve said it would likely keep interest rates near zero until late 2014. It previously had promised to keep rates low through mid-2013.

BONDS RISE: Bond prices rose, sending their yields lower, because the Fed’s pledge indicated that inflation will remain low. Low inflation preserves the value of a bond owner’s fixed income.

NO CRYSTAL BALL: The market often reacts strongly to Fed policy. But analysts say that one-day response rarely predicts its direction over the medium term.

GREECE, REVISTED: Stocks fell Tuesday on concerns that a deal to prevent a default by Greece might fall through. A slew of U.S. corporate earnings did little to bolster investors’ confidence.

THE NUMBERS: The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 33 points at 12,676. It has risen or fallen less than 100 points in 13 trading sessions, the longest calm stretch since March and April of last year.

MOSTLY GREEN: It’s only the third time the S&P has ended lower this year, and all those declines have been less than 7 points. So far this year, it’s up 4.5 percent.

EURO UP: The euro rose to a three-week high against the dollar on hopes that the Greek government will reach a deal with creditors to trim the country’s debt.

GAS GAIN: Natural gas prices rose after Chesapeake Energy said it will cut production in response to cheap prices and rising supplies. Stocks of gas producers jumped.

STEADY CLIMB: The S&P 500 index edged up 0.62 points Monday to close at 1,316. The stock market is off to a strong start in 2012. Better-than-expected job growth in the U.S. and easing worries about Europe’s debt woes have pushed the S&P 500 up 4.6 percent for the year.